Principal Message - 21st July 2022

Dear parents and carers, 

Welcome to the start of Term 3, after hopefully enjoying a safe and enjoyable winter break. I want to give you an overview of how we are continuing to ensure our school remains COVID-safe throughout this term. 

As we continue to prioritise student and staff learning and wellbeing while at school, our layered COVID-smart measures will continue for Term 3 as under; 

• staying home and getting tested if unwell, and only attending school when symptom free.  Students identified as close contacts remain able to attend school, providing they are symptom free, notify the school and return a negative COVID-19 test result daily for 5 consecutive school days. Additionally, secondary students are required to wear a mask for 5 consecutive school days (except when eating/drinking or exercising).  For Students in support units, rules remain unchanged, students that are close contacts are not allowed to attend school and will continue to be supported to learn remotely. 

• strongly encouraging mask-wearing for all staff and students, particularly in the first 4 weeks of term 

• rapid antigen testing for symptomatic students and staff, and close contacts attending school to learn and work, additional tests will be sent home during week 2. 

• strongly encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations for students, staff and their families, incl booster (when eligible) 

• strongly encouraging students, staff and their families to get a flu vaccination 

We will continue to liaise with NSW Health and the department’s Health, Safety and Staff Wellbeing Case Management team to ensure our COVID-smart settings keep up with the latest developments. If local conditions require it, this may mean reintroducing temporary additional COVID-smart measures to act as a ‘circuit breaker’, including: 

• mandating mask wearing for all staff and students in Year 7 and above (high school settings) 

• postponing or limiting non-essential activities like excursions, indoor assemblies and visitors to the school 

• directing cohorts to learn remotely for short periods of time. 

   

For more information on COVID-smart measures for schools please see NSW Department of Education Links  

https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/en/home/inside-the-department/covid-19/principal-toolkits/Term3_COVID-smart_measures_PDFs_Parents.pdf

https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/en/home/inside-the-department/covid-19/principal-toolkits/Term3_COVID-smart_measures_PDFs_SSP.pdf

On behalf of our school, I want to thank you again for your ongoing support and resilience as we continue to work together to support our students. 

Kind regards 

Peter Riley 

Principal 

21 July 2022